


Just A Project, Right?

by baxoje



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: AU, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Consensual, Consensual Underage Sex, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Peter and MJ ain't working out they are not endgame, Peter and MJ are on a break kinda, Peter and MJ break up, age gap and peter's still 16 or 17 whatever he is in the movies dont say i didn't warn u lol, haha see what I did there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27783001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baxoje/pseuds/baxoje
Summary: AU wherein Peter and MJ are assigned a project about dating apps and none other than Peter himself resorts to making a profile for one. Only he finds someone he didn't expect to like, someone he didn't expect to stay with after as long as it took to get information for his project. ;)
Relationships: Quentin Beck/Peter Parker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe just saw this movie last night and I love it so much I just had to make some fanfics!   
> Also, chapter 2 will be up tonight :)

“No, that’s the dumbest one we could possibly pick, MJ!” 

“Oh, so you’re telling me that we’ll have better luck on persuading our classmates that cellphones are ruining communication? We’ve got a better chance at picking dating apps for our presentation than we do cellphones. You already know that the teacher will shoot us down since he still uses a flip phone, and the class would fight us every word if we try to convince them cell phones are bad. These are the only two options we have so we’re doing the dating app one.” 

Peter sighed, setting his jaw. He glared at MJ, but the expression melted within seconds. “You know what, you’ve got a point.” 

She grinned. “Always do.” 

Peter smiled back, and the two got to work on the project. They were late to class, and therefore were left with the only two topics left to make a persuasive and informative presentation on: dating apps being beneficial and accurate to preference, or whether everyday cellphone use was healthy or not. 

“Alright, let’s get this going. The sooner we get it finished, the better.” MJ gave a confirming nod when she finished speaking, and Peter repeated the action. “On it.” 

The class was already in the computer lab, giving them ample time to get their projects started. Nearly a quarter of the way through, Ned and Betty approached Peter and MJ. Ned and Betty had matching shirts on, and the blonde flashed a smile at MJ. “You know, you both should start to wear matching accessories or clothes,” she chimed. “Ned and I do it and it makes our relationship that much stronger.” She turned her head, waiting for her boyfriend to agree with her. He did so without hesitation, nodding eagerly. “Yes. And, now that we’re both officially couples, maybe we can show off our matching ensembles when we go on a double date. If you’re still offering it,” he looked pointedly to Peter when he said it. 

Peter stayed quiet while his gaze drifted slowly to the corner of his eye, gauging MJ’s reaction. She only raised a brow in response. Peter then looked to Ned again, smiling nervously. “Whenever we’re all free,” he said with a smile. MJ didn’t seem particularly interested in matching, but maybe she’d be into double dating. They’d figure it out later. 

Ned leaned over their table, trying to peer around to the computer screen. “So whatcha working on?” he questioned. “What’s your topic on?”

Peter turned the screen for his friend to look at. They only had three slides completed for their presentation, and still had a week to get further information for the project. “Dating apps: Worth it, or No?” 

“Hm. Sounds boring. Good luck with it. Betty and I have the topic of starting school later in the day, if it would be better for the students or not.” he raised his brows to express his interest in the topic. “For yours, are you going to have to go on a dating app to see if they really are worth it or not?” 

Peter paused. “I didn’t think of that. I guess we should. It would be the best way to find out how we’re going to decide if the apps are okay or not.” He then turned to MJ. “You’re definitely making the profile, you’ll get many more likes than me.” 

MJ scoffed. “Really? You think I’d get more likes? I don’t make efforts to look pretty for men.. I don’t think I will get many likes.” 

“Nonsense!” Peter rebutted, shaking his head. “You’re very pretty, you’ll have no trouble finding people liking your profile.” 

The girl sighed heavily. Her eyes were evident in how much she didn’t want to do it. “Okay, sure. I’ll make a profile and have countless men try to slide into my DMs telling me how beautiful I am and how much they want to make love to me. Then, when I respectfully decline them, they’ll tell me how much of a cunt or a bitch I am. Great idea, Parker.” Her lips were a tight line, and she turned away promptly to continue working on the powerpoint. 

Ever since the two started dating, it seemed that she had increased with her snide comments about rude people, or in this case, men in general. Peter felt that he was at a constant loss when it came to her. He could not predict her, and she was much unlike the person she was when they first started dating. She was pleasant then, and grew to enjoy the trips around the city clinging to his body as they swung from buildings with his webs. She made an effort to love the things he did with her, and her favorites were kisses when he was upside down and holding onto his webs.

But then it started to dissipate, and she grew to be a little more disinterested in him as time went on. Peter feared that she loved him for his secret identity, and now that she knows and the mystery and thrill was over, that she didn’t want him anymore. He shared these concerns with Ned, who slowly agreed. The two were waiting on a right time for him to break up with her, but Peter simply hadn’t found the words. 

The rest of the class went by in uncomfortable silence. In the last ten minutes of class, Peter pulled out his phone when the teacher wasn’t paying attention. He found the first two dating apps he found were free, and downloaded it seconds later. He then began to look through his phone for a good picture to use for his profiles. He chose his best pictures for both, but used shirtless pictures in the second one, curious to see if it would attract more people than the other profile. He realized with a start that he needed to be eighteen or over to be on them. He set that as his age on there, scared to know if he would get in trouble for that. The next step was his preferences. He had the option to choose female, male, or both. He swallowed thickly, and he could practically hear his heartbeat escalating. 

He angled himself so that his phone wasn’t in anyone’s field of vision before he selected the both option. His thumb hovered over it for many seconds before he had the courage to press down on it. The thought of it shouldn’t have scared him so much, but it did. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t really acknowledged the fact that he wouldn’t mind dating either gender yet. But he needed to get that off his phone screen before he could second guess himself, and continued to the bio section. He put his phone in his pocket after creating his bios, knowing that it wouldn’t matter. He wasn’t going to end up dating anyone from the apps, anyway, right?


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried with the italics in HTML as well as indentations but I'm not too familiar with it so just be patient with me until I can figure it all out :)

After his classes were done for the day, Peter wanted nothing more than to fix things with MJ. After their class together earlier, he didn’t have any more with her. He didn’t get to see her again until the final bell tolled, signalling the end of their day. He found her walking in the courtyard, and he ran up to her. “Hey!” he said, breathless, when he caught up to her. 

She whipped her head around, and almost had a scowl on her face the moment she saw him. She was an expert on making the expression only last seconds, but she wasn’t quick enough for Peter. He noticed. “Why are you upset with me?” he said, deflated. His shoulders sagged and his face turned into one of pleading. “Can you please just tell me? I want to try and fix this. Fix us. I hate when you’re mad at me. Can’t we make this work?” 

She opened her mouth to say something, then quickly shut it, looking forward again, gaze focused on the sidewalk in front of her. Peter was on her side, begging her to talk. “You know what? Fine. I’ll just leave you to it. Text me when you want to be mature and talk this out.” He waited a few seconds for any reaction before finally stopping, starting to walk the other way. He did once last look over his shoulder at her, only to find her doing the same thing. He furrowed his brows angrily and turned away again. 

\---

Not long after the interaction with MJ, Peter was almost on his way home. When he was just a little under ten minutes away, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He produced it to see his best friend calling.

“Hey man,” came the voice from the other end. “How’d it go with MJ?” 

“Horrible, Ned,” he said with a sigh. “She won’t even talk to me now. I caught up to her after school and tried to walk home with her but she wouldn’t say anything. She was close to it, but didn’t.” He took a deep breath, trying to keep it from hitching and his voice from shaking. But it cracked when he spoke next. “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” 

“If I can be honest, man, without being rude, I think it’s her. She’s always been this way, remember? She’s always had something smart to say to everyone. I think she just lets everyone get on her nerves without stopping to think that she might be part of the problem, too.” 

A few moments of silence went on before Ned’s voice came through again. “It’ll be okay, bro. Give her time and space, let her think about what she’s done. She’ll come around, she’ll realize that she’s in the wrong here.” 

“You’re right. Good idea.” he wiped tears that were pooling in his eyes. “Thanks. I think I’ll just try and get this project done without bothering her.” 

“Oh, speaking of that, how is the project going? Are you going to have to make the dating profile since she’s not talking?” 

“Yeah. I made it earlier. I actually haven’t checked how my profile’s doing. I’m going to put you on speaker so I can see.” 

He did as he said, putting his friend on speaker phone so that he was free to roam his home screen to find the dating apps. He chose the app called Bumble first, the one that he selected as strictly women. This was also the one that didn’t have his shirtless pictures. He saw the number of girls that had liked him, and one even caused him to laugh out loud. 

“What was that laugh for? Please tell me it was someone from the school that liked you!” 

“No,” he said in between laughs. “It’s a cougar!” 

Both teenagers erupted in laughter, until their eyes teared. “Oh, that was too funny,” Peter continued. “But I’ve got twenty nine chicks interested in me on this one. However, I did make a second one for a social experiment of sorts, with some shirtless pictures. I’m going to see if I got more interest in that one. Gimme a sec.” 

He quickly closed that app and went to the other: Tinder. This was the one that he chose both genders on, too. His heart was hammering when he opened it, nervous to see what kind of people he attracted. “Oh wow,” he said, stunned. 

“More cougars? Please tell me you got a hot MILF.” 

“No, but I got eighty two likes on this one, holy shit.” He was astounded. The first person he was able to swipe on was a woman, and he sighed in relief. It was almost as if he were worried to explore the part of himself that he was nervous about. He always knew that he had an interest in dating the same gender, but was too scared to make moves. Maybe doing it through a dating app would be the best way, so that if he wasn’t as interested as he thought, it wouldn't have to be someone he knew in real life to avoid. 

“Damn!” Ned exclaimed. “Good for you. Why don’t you ask one of the hot girls you find on there to go out on a date? Clearly you and MJ are on a break right now, and you need to do this for your project. See if she falls under your preferences and see if a date or two was worth it.” 

“You know what, I think I will, Ned. I’ll let you know who I pick and when we meet. I’m almost home, too, so I’ll call you later.” 

“Okay. Tell Aunt May I said hi.” 

Peter did as his friend asked, and the woman smiled at it. “He’s a good kid,” she commented, then returned to what she was cooking in the kitchen. Peter sniffed and smiled, inquiring what it was. She answered with the loud sound of dough hitting the kitchen counter. “Homemade pizza!” she replied. 

“Yum!” he said, expressing his interest. He took a seat in the kitchen, simply talking to her while she prepared dinner. “So school was a bit rough today,” he began, and after the hum of curiosity from Aunt May, he elaborated. “I don’t think that MJ and I are working out,” he began, putting his head on his arms over the table. He then lifted his head again, continuing what he was saying. “I don’t know. A little while after we started dating she’s been a little distant, and then today she blew up on me for something stupid. We have to do a project for class where we have to determine if dating apps are worth it, and how close your people match what you’re looking for in a partner. I suggested to her that she make the profile since she’s pretty, I thought she would get more likes. She got so upset about it, telling me that men would just make fun of her. Then, I tried to walk home with her and talk to her, but she said nothing to me. Not one word.” 

Aunt May stopped her kneading of the dough to turn to face him. “She’s right, a lot of men do that. When they find that a woman isn’t interested in them, they turn to insulting and mocking. She’s justified to feel that way. But she shouldn’t be taking it out on you, that was rude of her. I don’t know why she’s not talking to you, this isn’t something you’ve done before. She made a confused face, putting one hand on her hip. “But I’m so sorry to hear that she’s acting this way,” she said concerningly, walking over and pulling him against her, wrapping her arms around him. She rubbed soothing circles on his shoulder. 

“Just give her some space. Give her a few days. Then talk to her. Ok?” She gave him a sad smile after he nodded before returning to her task. 

“Thanks, Aunt May. I’m gonna go lay down for a little bit.” 

After shutting the door to his bedroom, Peter tossed his bookbag on the floor, didn’t even look at his computer for schoolwork, and went right to his bed. He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling for a few moments. He was contemplating a nap before his phone buzzed. He picked it up, only to see it was a notification from the dating app. It was a push notification to encourage him to continue using the app, but he found it worth it to check the app regardless. He opened Tinder and checked out who was interested in him. 

Only, this time, he allowed himself to swipe. He swiped right on a few cute girls, not particularly caring that they didn’t like him back yet. It wasn’t until he found a particularly handsome man that he swiped on that he found his first match. He immediately sat up in bed, eyes widening a bit. He swiped right on him, but had no expectation of being liked back. And he was marvelously handsome. He swiped too fast to even remember the name, but he had the option to send a message. 

With fingers that were nearly shaking with excitement, Peter typed an open ended first message, hoping that with a question expecting an answer, it would be better than a simple _Hi._ So he typed and sent something more interactive: _Hey :) I’m new to this app and a little nervous to get back into dating, maybe you could give me some pointers?_

He then put his phone down, beginning to stand and pace in the nervousness of it. He found a match already, and a male one at that. He was beginning to wonder what MJ would think before he stopped himself. She didn’t care about him right now, or she wouldn’t have ignored him. He nodded, reassuring himself. Plus, this was for a project. Whatever happened was in the name of his sociology class. 

So he went back to his phone, and was halfway through mentally preparing a paragraph on how to explain to his new possible date that he would have to cut it off after one or two dates. Then the phone vibrated and Peter picked it up. He nearly gasped when he saw that the man he’d just sent a message to minutes ago had already replied. 

_Hey, handsome. :) Of course I could give you some pointers, but only if you’re sure you’re ready to get back into dating. I don’t want to rush you if you’re still nervous about it. If that’s the case, here’s my number for when you’re ready. ;)_

Peter couldn’t help but smile at how caring he already seemed. He copied the number and decided to save him as a contact in the phone first. He did so, and realized he still had yet to go back and check the name of the handsome man. He went back to the profile, taking his sweet time going through his photos. There was an especially beautiful one of him in a turtleneck that Peter unashamedly saved to his phone. For the contact photo, of course. When he finished, he went to find the name to connect to the number. Even his name was cute. Quentin Beck. He typed it into his phone and sent a quick text. 

_No need to wait for me, I’m ready. Just got out of a rough patch with my previous relationship, and just hoping for someone to treat me right. I’m hoping it can be you?_

He didn’t see a problem in already being a little attached to the guy. He seemed nice and very patient, and was not lacking in the aesthetic department. So far, he was checking all the boxes on Peter’s list of preferences. This was great. And Peter wouldn’t mind meeting this guy for some dates. It was for his project, after all.


End file.
